Fine-Tuning Visual Effects in Windows 7

The Windows 7 interface has many graphical enhancements including visual effects for menus, toolbars, windows, and the taskbar. Because displaying these visual effects can require substantial system resources, Windows 7 lets you optimize the way visual effects are used. You can optimize for appearance or for performance. You can also customize the settings or let Windows 7 choose the best configuration.

The visual effects available are:

Animate controls and elements inside windows

Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing

Animations in the taskbar and Start Menu

Enable Aero Peek

Enable desktop composition

Enable transparent glass

Fade or slide menus into view

Fade or slide ToolTips into view

Fade out menu items after clicking

Save taskbar thumbnail previews

Show shadows under mouse pointer

Show shadows under windows

Show thumbnails instead of icons

Show translucent selection rectangle

Show window contents while dragging

Slide open combo boxes

Smooth edges of screen fonts

Smooth-scroll listboxes

Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop

Use visual styles on windows and buttons

You can configure Windows performance by completing the following steps:
1. In the Control Panel, click the System and Security category heading link.
2. Click System. In the left pane under See Also, click Performance Information and Tools.
3. In the left pane, click “Adjust visual effects.” This opens the Performance Options dialog box shown below.
4. On the Visual Effects tab, you have the following options for controlling visual
effects:
Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer
Enables the operating system to choose the performance options based on the hardware configuration. For a newer computer, this option will probably be identical to the “Adjust for best appearance” option because of its hardware and performance capabilities.
Adjust for best appearance
Enables all visual effects for all graphical interfaces.
Adjust for best performance
Disables all visual effects.
Custom
Allows you to enable or disable the visual effects options individually.
5. Click OK to apply your settings.